Pull on the Puppet String
by Pups3942
Summary: (TDKS - 04) "Let's play a game, shall we?" When Tony and Loki's child gets abducted, they go through a series of tests and manipulation in hopes of getting their child to safety. The question is, how much are they willing to give up? (Graphic Description; Blood and Torture; Psychological Torture; Vivisection; Implied/Referenced Character Death)


**A/N:** **This contains torture, the bulk of this is made up of both psychological and physical torture. It can be and will be disturbing. I recommend all readers to stop if it gets too graphic for yourself. You have been pre warned. Otherwise, please scroll down and prepare to have your heart rip to shreds.**

 _ **Welcome to The Desolate Kingdom Series. TDKS consist of various frostiron angst and sorrow parts (stories) that are read individually and have no relation to each other. This is the forth part. Reviews are always welcomed.**_

* * *

Tony cussed as he stomped around the hall. It had been seven fucking hours and they even sent a tape to gloat! Tony woke to Loki's frantic hollering and shuffling of feet; needless to say, it set Tony in a grumpy mood. Tony was not a morning person but from the way the sun was shining into the room, he doubt that it was still early. That was the second thing that Tony found odd. Why didn't JARVIS dim the windows or wake him for any matter? He groaned as he stepped out of bed and practically bumped into Loki in the hallway.

"Zev is missing!"

Now Tony was wide awake.

Tony had been careless. This was supposed to be a short getaway from the busy streets of New York Central and away from work; this was supposed to be a holiday with the family not this nightmare!

In the first hours of Zev's disappearance, Tony attempted various methods to seek out his son to no avail. The enemy knew of Tony's address, not that it was hard to find; Tony Stark was famous enough. However, for them to know of Tony's schedule was something to be suspicious about. Not even the team who was residing in the tower knew that Tony was going to his residence in Malibu until the very morning itself.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut to keep out the imminent migraine. Who would do this to a four-year-old boy?! It was worse with Loki; he couldn't keep his eyes off the screen as they watched what the captors did to their son. The tape was not more than ten minutes, but the damage was done on a big scale.

Tony wasted little time to fly back to the tower with Loki. And that's where the second tape was sent to. They knew of his whereabouts! They were keeping an eye on him and he didn't even have a clue on who they were.

"Play the tape again." Steve said.

"We've watched it more than twice already!" Tony barked, but hit the replay button once more. He had tracked the tape, hacked into the government's system but nothing!

 _Zev was stripped of his clothes and strapped down by metals to the shiny surgical table. The table was rotated where the subject was held vertically. The camera was steady as a masked person walked towards the child. Dressed in a lab coat, mask and goggles, the perpetrator took time to pull on the gloves that were already on his hands. He was taunting and despite the heavy cover up, he was smug; he made sure the audience knew that._

 _He held a firm grasp on Zev's brown locks and slammed his head back against the table. The formerly unconscious child startled awoke and cried._

 _Zev's eyes were wide with fear, tears were flowing at a steady stream._

" _Zev Grey Stark." The person spoke with a menacing laugh, articulating each syllable slowly and carefully. He was careful to use a throat mic, masking his real voice._

 _Zev was shaking like a leaf and when he heard the masked man call his name, he started whimpering. He watched as the bad man picked up his hand as far as the restraints would allow and caressed it gently._

" _W-what do you want?"_

 _The masked man let out a hoarse laughter and if the frightened child would be able to shake more than he could, he probably would have. "Smile at the camera now." He said as he clipped the pliers on to Zev's fingernails, successfully eliciting a sharp grunt from the boy. "Smile for your daddy and mommy."_

 _Zev scream echoed, and when his cries turn to soft whimpers, the kidnapper would rip out another and another until his glass container contained all ten bloody fingernails._

 _Zev's hair was plastered to his head and his body gleamed under the light with sweat. His fingers were a nasty shade of red and some had begun to turn purple and black. The bad man turned around to store his new trophy and brought back two slightly larger transparent containers, one of which must have smelled terrible because Zev wrinkled his nose and coughed when the containers were placed near his face. Zev had his eyes squeezed shut as he took uncontrollable pants and gasp to still his crying._

" _I wonder if daddy will come to save you, when he is so busy saving the world all the time. It must be tough, bearing the name of Stark." The masked man cooed._

 _When Zev opened his mouth to protest, the man threw a punch to his face and a loud sound of bones breaking could be heard. "I didn't say you were allowed to speak!"_

 _Zev's nose was clearly broken and blood spurted from his injuries. The child started wailing._

" _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."_

 _Punch._

" _Come on now, it didn't hurt as bad as you make it seem to look."_

 _Punch._

 _Breathing became difficult for Zev with his face swollen and his nose broken, he had to take deep gasp for air. That made crying harder and Zev tried his best to hang tough. That, however, only made the bad man much more excitable._

 _With his thick gloved fingers, he pried open the boy's mouth and tugged on the teeth knocked loose from his earlier administrations before yanking them out. When Zev attempted to bite down on the beefy digits, the boy earned another punch to the face._

 _The kidnapper wasn't done. He lifted a large pair of shears and held it in front of the camera._

" _How 'bout I give your daddy and mommy some souvenirs?"_

 _Without warning, the man pulled on Zev's foot and teased, tapping the shears on each toe once before moving on to the next and repeating all over. He dragged the shears against the underfoot before roughly ripping off a digit. He repeated the motion a few times until he was bored._

 _Zev screamed._

 _The tormented fingers suffered the same fate, as was one of his ears. The tape cut to black._

"Fuck." Steve muttered.

Tony shot Steve a wary glance. He was in no mood to joke around and pick on the Captain at the moment. As of the team, they stood in silence as the tape ended.

"Zev's voice echoed." Steve said thoughtfully.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "So? Does any of that matter right now?"

"It means that the room was large, Tony." Bruce offered as he wiped of the sheen of cold sweat from his forehead. "Wherever they took him, it's big."

Steve indicated for him to start the next tape. Tony ran his hand through his hair and waved his other hand for JARVIS to start the next tape. It was worse. His hands were quivering involuntarily and he tucked them in the pockets of his jacket and willed them to stop.

It was obvious by now that the enemy was targeting at him more than Loki. And while Tony gritted his teeth in anger, he couldn't understand who would lay hands on a child. Sure he had made many enemies. Loki did too. However it doesn't excuse anyone to take their child! Or maybe it did, because if they wanted to hurt Tony, they've succeeded.

Tony was slumped down against the wall as he wheezed. Images of his captive days under the hands of the Ten Rings flashed across his eyes and Tony could feel his chest tightening. A pair of cold hands cupped his face and the thumbs brushed across his cheeks to wipe away the tears his didn't realize had formed.

The hands went around Tony's neck and pulled him forward in an embrace. Tony gave in, leaning into the touch as he bit his lip to prevent a sound from escaping his lips and inwardly cursed at himself for being such a wuss. The arms around him tremble lightly and Tony looked up at Loki. They both needed comfort from each other, and comfort they will get. Tony squeezed back.

 _Bright light filled the room and Zev was unconscious once more. The bad man had changed into a fresh, clean set of attire that was exactly the same as before. He made a motion to adjust the camera before turning his back towards the lens. Beside the table where Zev was strapped to, was a metal trolley containing glass containers of various sizes; each was filled halfway with a transparent liquid._

 _The man laid out metal instruments on a tray and tested his blowtorch. He scratched his dagger across the table and the loud screeching roused the child that was restrained on it. Before Zev could take note of his surroundings, the bad man raised the weapon above his head and struck the boy's mid torso, burying the blade deep within the child._

 _The kidnapper took his time to drag the blade down the torso. He swiped up some blood with his index finger and brought it up to his masked face, where his nose might be and dramatically took a big whiff. Zev's screaming must have irritated him because the man forcefully smeared the blood on his finger onto Zev's cheek and into the boy's mouth. He shoved his fingers into the boy's throat and Zev coughed and gagged at the intrusion. Blood spewed from the wound on his body as he did so._

" _Hush, boy."_

 _Zev didn't stop. He couldn't._

 _The bad man caressed Zev's cheek gently and brushed over the gaping wound where his right ear used to be. The blood had dried and the wound looked nasty. It was clearly left untreated._

 _Using both his hands, the kidnapper pried open Zev's stomach from the incision site and shoved one hand in and groped around before pulling out one kidney. With the same blade, he cleanly snipped off the organ and dropped it into one of the jars. With one hand still holding the innards, the man reached out for the blowtorch with his other and ignited it._

 _He held the naked flame over the bleeding outlet and the flesh smoked and turned black. The bleeding stopped. The man let go of the charred flesh and shoved his hand into Zev's body again, this time, he pulls out Zev's liver. With a flick of his blade, he sliced off a chunk of the said organ and plopped it into another jar. He twisted his arm to reach underneath and did the same for the pancreas._

 _The screaming stopped._

" _You are weak. Just like your daddy."_

 _The kidnapper cauterized the blood vessels before patching Zev up. The stitches were far apart and loose, but the gaping hole in Zev's body was closed and the bleeding had stopped. The man walked up and placed his face in front of the camera. "Hear that, Stark? You guys are just a bunch of weaklings."_

 _The video cut to black._

 _When the camera turned on again, Zev was staring blankly into the lens of the camera. He blinked slowly. The room was quiet except for the heavy breathing that didn't seem to come from Zev. Someone was sitting behind the camera and watching._

 _The silence lasted for a good long few minutes before the camera shook and the bad man stomped his way towards Zev. Even as the man ignited the blowtorch and heated up a small scoop no larger than a teaspoon, Zev's gaze was still dazed and lost._

" _That's right boy. Take a good long look at your daddy and mommy."_

 _If Zev heard him, he gave no indication. The bad man held out his now heated till glowing metal scoop and took slow strides around Zev's table to the other side. He shook the instrument before tracing it on Zev's face and stopping beside his left eye. The boy squirmed and shrieked. Using one strong hand, the pressed Zev's face down to the table and squeezed his cheek to hold him still. The scoop dug into Zev's eye socket and the eyeball easily dislodged._

 _Zev was screaming himself hoarse and the bad man laughed. He dropped the organ into a jar and placed it in front of the camera._

" _There, now you can have a closer look."_

Tony actually had to excuse himself when they first played the tape. Everyone was pale and Bruce was a light shade of green; even Steve who has seen the nastiest of the battle fields had puked into the bin by the couch.

Watching the tape again didn't ease the nausea and part of Tony was actually surprised that Bruce haven't hulked out yet. Despite holding Tony in his arms, Loki looked the most wrecked out of all of them. He's eyes never left the screen as the tape played and his expression was pained. Pained was an understatement. Given how everyone, Natasha and Clint inclusive, were put on the edge with the tapes, Tony couldn't even begin to imagine how Loki was feeling.

What worried Tony the most was that despite looking the worse that he had ever been, there had been no outburst from Loki. No screaming, no punching, no terrorizing the city to scour for his son; there was none of letting out his frustrations in any manner anyone thought possible. And that frightened Tony.

Tony leaned forward into Loki's embrace and let out a shaky breath. Loki had his eyes closed and Tony brought his lips to Loki's, the latter didn't respond, but Tony held his position anyways. He needed to offer Loki some form of comfort, and he didn't know what else to do. Loki exhaled deeply; Tony didn't realize that Loki had held his breath. Good, let it all out.

"I don't mean to interrupt."

Tony took a moment to calm his erratic breathing. "Yeah, shoot." He croaked.

"We will find him, Tony." Bruce added. "If it's any comfort, it is highly likely that Zev will be alive when we get to him."

"Highly likely?" Tony muttered. "Highly likely?! Have you seen what they did to him!"

"They were careful enough to cauterize his wounds. They want him alive."

"SHIELD has men on the grounds. If there are any movements to rouse suspicion, we'll be on it." Natasha said; she bit back her comment on 'don't worry'. As long as Zev was on the hands of the perpetrator, they have every reason to worry.

Tony could only nod. Immediately following his son's disappearance, he had shot his way through SHIELD's facility, demanding Fury to let his child go. That had been a dumb move, but Tony couldn't think straight, not when Fury reasoned with him. Of course, especially since Zev's birth, SHIELD had had their backs although Tony deemed their security too weak as compared to his.

Fury sent teams of soldiers out to search for the young Stark and most reported back with the same answer, 'Negative'.

There was a loud rumble in the penthouse and Tony caught Loki flinch. Tony hadn't expected him to drop by anytime soon; now was a terrible time. Of course, he had to make a boisterous entrance, oblivious to the solemn atmosphere.

"Brother!" Thor entered with a booming voice. "My friends! You didn't tell me that it was movie day!"

Thor was waving a tape in his hands. "Were you guys watching a sad film? Cheer up! I found this in your penthouse, Stark. Perhaps this will be a better film?"

Loki glared at his brother. "Hand that tape to me."

"Certainly." With a wide grin plastered on his face, Thor was the embodiment of sunshine walking through a plain of gray ash. "You look debilitated, Brother. Is my nephew's boundless energy wearing you down? Speaking of him, where is he?"

Thor scanned the room for the child and everybody tensed. Loki wavered when he received the tape and stole a glimpse at Tony. "It's the third piece."

Tony wasted little time to click the tape into the player. Thor was lost for words when the images came online. The third tape was significantly shorter than the first two, with the kidnapper removing half of Zev's scalp and performing trepanation on the child. Tony caught Loki wipe a tear from his eyes in a hustle before putting on a blank face again.

This was the last straw. The tapes were sent to him at a constant three hours between each tape and Tony was determined to not receive the fourth. The perpetrator ensured that Zev was alive, and Tony was hoping that they would kill the child already.

He slapped himself inwardly for even coming up with such a thought. What kind of father wants their child dead? Tony knew the differences between dreams and reality, and hope was bleak.

"Who took my precious nephew?!" Thor was enraged as he swung his hammer around dangerously.

"Don't be reckless Brother!" Loki hissed. All eyes were on Loki as they watched him maneuver around his beefy brother. Loki hadn't said a word since they stepped foot into the tower and Tony honestly afraid for Thor of what Loki might do to him.

"We can't just bust into the place and kill everybody." Loki stated. "Although I am very tempted to do so, but we are not even aware of where Zev's is being held."

Loki sounded calm; Tony knew it was a façade. When it comes to Zev, Loki was an emotional turmoil.

"I think we do."

"What?!" Tony snapped.

Natasha pointed to the screen where the image of Zev was still on. "They swapped the angle, just a couple of degrees slightly to the right." She explained. "Right here, we couldn't see this in the previous tapes."

Tony squinted at the screen. "JARVIS. Blow it up."

"That is a logo. Well, a part of one at least."

"Run the image through the database, JARV, show me what you got." Tony said. "Why would they shift the angles? They had been so careful before."

"Maybe it's someone else?" Steve suggested.

"They are probably working as a team or in an organization. It definitely can't be the work of an individual." Bruce added. "Although I am pretty sure that the man in the first two tapes are the same individual. But there is something about how they filmed it that gets to me."

"They were putting on a show." Clint added.

"Obviously, birdbrain." Tony taunted. "And they have done it well."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I meant that there were others in the room. Even with his mask on, he kept turning to look behind the camera, not at it. Not unless he was speaking to you or Loki."

JARVIS revealed his search with an image of HYDRA next to the original image; it was a 96% match. The image of SHIELD was up too, with a match of 37%.

"HYDRA?" Steve exclaimed. "But we annihilated them back in the war! This can't be them. What grudge do they have with Tony anyways?"

"For one," Natasha said. "Howard Stark made who you are today."

"Cut one head and two more grow in its place." Clint added. "Let's go kill these bastards."

"Couldn't have said that better myself." Tony growled. "Suit up, we are stealing a quinjet."

Tony refused to let the agents of SHIELD be aware of their mission; said that they were bothersome or that they complicate the mission. While the team didn't agree to the first reason, complication was something they wished to avoid. With Stark's technology in built to the quinjets, even SHIELD couldn't locate a stray in stealth mode if they wanted to. Point one goes to Stark.

"Ok, JARVIS located them in a jiffy once we've uncovered who they are." Tony tapped on his watch, and it gave a digital exploded view of a location. "They are here. Chicago, Illinois. They turned the abandoned air base into their little hideout. It's in an unpopulated area by the sea. I'm surprised that they haven't been flipped over yet."

"They are good." Steve admitted. "Hiding in plain sight is something they are familiar with. If one doesn't know how to dig, they will never find their dirty deeds. Just like how we've missed them for so many years."

"I will do whatever it takes to bring my nephew home." Thor added. There was a silent agreement among the team. With a little under three hours to the destination, Tony was beginning to worry that further action might have been taken on Zev.

Loki seemed to share his thoughts as he placed his hand on Tony's lap. Loki's eyes were red, and Tony realized that he had been holding back his tears. "We'll find him." The comfort was futile. But Tony wanted Loki to know that, he wanted Loki to hear that.

"They won't hurt him until we are there." Loki muttered. "They are keeping a close eye on us, aren't they?"

"No they won't."

"Good." Loki intertwined his fingers with Tony's. "I want to kill those bastards myself."

 _Loki awoke to loud banging on the floor and he groaned as he sat up on the bed. Tony was not in bed. A bout of giggling told him that his partner was in the nursery with their child. Loki smiled. Zev was a light sleeper and laying him to sleep was probably the toughest job they had, else, he was a delightful bundle of joy._

 _Tony was sprawled out on the floor and the baby was bouncing on Tony's back. Every time Tony grunted, the baby giggled._

" _I see he takes joy in causing you pain." Loki chuckled as he knelt by Tony._

" _He takes after you." Tony groaned. "Good morning babe."_

 _Loki stole a chaste kiss from Tony before scooping up the baby. "Now you mister, give your daddy a break."_

 _The baby squealed and tugged on Loki's hair, but his bright brown eyes never left Tony. It's the wee hours of morning and Tony had an important meeting that he had plans to miss later in the day. Seriously, who would willingly leave this behind and go to a boring conference?_

 _When Loki carried the child further from Tony, the baby let out short wail and Loki laughed. "Daddy's not going anywhere."_

 _Tony sat up from the floor and stretched his back. He patted the floor in front of him and laughed when the baby squirmed from Loki's grasp and squealed louder._

" _He only ever wants you." Loki pouted._

" _That's not true." Tony said. "He only ever wants me to cause me misery."_

" _That's my boy." Loki chuckled as he ruffled Zev's unkempt hair._

" _Dada!"_

 _Tony's jaw dropped. "Did he?"_

" _And his first word has got to be you." Loki rolled his eyes and groaned. "You little betrayer."_

 _Even when Loki said those words, they were with pride and his eyes twinkled with joy. Zev's face was red as he inhaled and screamed his loudest "DADA!"; Loki set him on the floor right after._

 _The nine-month-old crawled his way to Tony like his life depended on it and shrilled happily as he reached his father's lap. A wide grin was plastered on Tony's face as he picked the child up. Loki sat down beside them and pouted. He pointed to himself and looked at Zev with all seriousness. "I am your móðir. Say Móhðy."_

 _Tony didn't even swallow his laughter and Loki sighed. "What?"_

" _He's nine months, Lokes. Móhðy is too hard a word for him to say."_

" _Fine. Zev sweetheart, please be a dear and say Mama."_

 _Zev looked at his parents with his big eyes and innocent expression before pointing at Tony and screamed "Dada!"_

Loki was jerked awake when the quinjet landed. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and scanned the area, odd, when had he fallen asleep? The aircraft was empty; Loki sat upright in his seat and tensed up when he heard heavy footsteps running towards him. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Tony.

"We're here." He whispered.

Loki hardened his expression and nodded. "I'm ready. Where's your suit?"

Tony shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not working. None of the tech is working. Must be some sort of magnetic field interference. We crashed." Tony tapped on the arc reactor buried deep in his chest. "I'm lucky this still works. How's your magic?"

Loki brought his hands to cupped Tony's face and they glowed bright green. "Feeling better?"

Tony sighed and nodded. "The pain is gone if that's what you meant."

"My magic is working fine then."

"Good. That's… We need that." Tony stumbled on his words. "Everyone is waiting outside. Thor wants to hammer his way in."

"That oaf," Loki muttered, "let's go stop him from doing anything rash, shall we?"

And that they did, only Tony regrettably rubbed his knuckles as bruises began to form. This was just the beginning, and they had already stepped into another trap. Of course they would separate them; of course there should have been more suspicion when their technologies started failing; given how easy the Avengers found HYDRA, given who HYDRA was, Tony should have known that it was a faux.

Those fucking bastards wanted them to come. They got tired of waiting; they got tired of their little games with Zev. That leak in the video was intentional, HYDRA probably fed JARVIS the information to lead them here.

So now here the four of them stood, stripped of their weapons and enclosed in a dimly lit room as if they were prey trapped in a big metallic cage; and Tony had no idea where Steve, Clint and Thor were. They might be in a room like this; Tony didn't care to think further. His breathing was starting to get erratic again.

"Tony, you have to breathe."

Tony squeezed his eyes shut and leaned against the cool wall for support. "I am."

"Deep breaths."

"I said I got it Bruce!"

Tony didn't stop shivering until Loki wrapped his arm around his shoulders. Tony wanted to punch himself hard in the guts. "They were right."

"Tony."

"I am a-"

"Hush, do not speak of yourself in that way." Loki hissed. "I forbid it."

Their moments were disrupted when a vault opened up from the walls with a loud clunk. Loki helped Tony to his feet as they peered into the vault. A pistol laid in it.

There was little a click and then static from the speakers. It stayed like this for a while and Tony was sure that they were fucking with them. Make them worry and tense over nothing, to tire them out before the real battle. But then, someone spoke. The voice wasn't sharp, and it sounded as though the person behind the controls were speaking to them via a radio transmitter.

"Welcome, Avengers."

Tony gritted his teeth, they were mocking him. Loki squeezed his shoulder, and Tony realized that Loki was trying to calm him down. His gaze was cold as he looked at Tony, but he knew what Loki wanted. _Listen to what they have to say._ Tony shot daggers towards the speakers but otherwise stayed where he was.

"I expected your arrival much sooner. But it seems that you are not the genius that you claim to be."

Loki helped Tony to his feet. The person didn't speak again for a short while, and Tony was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Natasha kept shooting sideway glances to Bruce; he seemed to be doing as alright as a person could be in a situation like this. If he were to hulk out at this moment, well, let's just say there wouldn't be much of the Avengers left after that.

"Well now, Stark. Pick up that handgun." The voice sounded amused over the speakers.

Tony shook his head and wiped his hands on his pants nervously.

"Only three of you can proceed to the next stage. Pick up that handgun, Stark."

Thousands of thoughts fired in his mind and Tony was unsure of which to follow. When there is a weapon, there will be collateral damage and Tony swore off creating weapons to protect people. To protect… He had failed to protect his son. Tony clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into the flesh of his palm. The only sounds that reverberated in the room was harsh breathing, and the sound of blood dripping onto the floor.

His feet were heavy as he walked towards the vault. He could feel all eyes on him. Only three people can move on right? So someone must be killed then. Tony shut his eyes in calm his thoughts, the headache wasn't helping and Tony instantaneously wished that Loki could alleviate it for him again. Not that it mattered, it was bound to come back.

He picked up the gun and rolled it on his hands, the weight was just right. He unclipped the magazine and clipped it back. "There's only one bullet." He hissed.

"So you better not miss. Now, Loki, tell Stark who you want dead and he'll get rid of that person for you. Of course, you can't choose yourselves. Now that I've eliminated half of you, the choice should be easier. Countdown starting." The speakers said.

"How long?" Tony asked.

"Oh no, the countdown is for me." The person said with mirth. "Kill away."

Tony glanced at Loki, his face stone cold, who seemed to be thinking carefully. Tony looked down on his hands and back up at his friends. Bruce and Natasha stood beside each other, and while they didn't show it, Tony was sure that they were frightened. No matter how well trained you were, anybody would shake in the face of death.

"Loki, you can't be seriously considering to do this." Tony questioned. "I can't do this."

"Doctor Banner." Loki stated. "I choose Banner." He pointed at Bruce and tilted his head to face the speakers.

"Well done. The choice has been made Stark, shoot him; right between his eyes." The speaker sounded.

Tony gripped the pistol so hard it almost slipped from the blood and sweat in his palms. In a swift motion, he aimed the pistol at the speakers.

"Waste that bullet, and you'll have to kill your friend with your bare hands." The person warned. "The bullet is mercy."

"No." Tony bit back his anger. "I won't do it."

Ticking sounds played through the speakers, warning them of the countdown. Tony threw the pistol on the ground and kicked it away from him. He threw another punch against the wall and grunted. There was no way he would kill his friends for a chance to save Zev. They didn't even know if there was a chance given to them in the first place.

Tony refused to throw in all his chips to receive from an empty hand. He raised his fist and readied for another punch when Loki stopped him. "Don't make this harder than it should be." He whispered into Tony's ear. "Do you trust me?"

Of course he did, Tony would trust Loki with his life. Even if it looked like Loki was making a bad decision initially, the choice would eventually benefit Tony. Loki would never hurt him, or their family. And the Avengers were family. Tony exhaled shakily and nodded slowly.

"Good." He heard Loki whisper back before letting him go. Tony turned his back against the wall and watched Loki pick up the pistol. "I'm sorry Doctor Banner."

Bruce nodded, and knelt down. "Do it quickly."

Loki cocked the gun and placed it right between Bruce's eyes, and the man squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Even with Loki's body blocking most of Bruce, Tony caught a tear slip down from Bruce's eyes.

"I'm sorry. This wouldn't hurt. I promise." Loki said as he placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder and pulled the trigger with the other. Tony sighed out an anguished breath and the bullet's shell clinked noisily to the floor. Rivulets of blood trickled down the wall behind Bruce and Natasha turned away and leaned against the wall.

"There." Loki raised both his hands with the gun in one hand. "Doctor Banner is dead. Shot between the eyes as instructed." Loki squatted and placed the gun beside Bruce's limp body.

There was a loud buzz from the speakers and the room lights flashed to red before the person spoke. "Wrong answer! Because of you, little Zev here is going to take the punishment."

"Wait! We did as you asked! Bruce is dead! What more do you want?!" Loki yelled desperately.

"The instruction was that Stark personally pull the trigger. Now he didn't do that, did he?" There was a click from the speakers and then soft whimpering could be heard. "Zev, Zev. Your parents are the cause of your misery. Blame them if you must."

A gunshot blasted through the speakers and Loki inhaled sharply when he heard a child's cry. The person laughed menacingly as the child bawled his lungs out. "Don't worry, he is alive. But he might not be if you pull any tricks." The speakers were shut off as the static stopped and the room was returned to its still atmosphere.

On the right wall, a panel slid to one side, revealing a narrow passageway. The message was clear, proceed to the next task. Loki walked calmly over to Tony and stretched out his hand, waiting for Tony to take it. Tony clasped his hands with Loki's, and was shocked at how cold it had become. His expression was hard to read as he led Tony towards the entrance of the passageway.

"If I have to exchange your life for Zev's, you can have no doubt that I will do it." Loki muttered as he walked past Natasha and stopped when he's right beside her. "I have to."

"I understand, but you will have to fight for it." She replied.

Loki's smile was filled with pain. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Agent Romanov."

The walls along the narrow corridor were grey and dull; no other words were spoken between them as the pathway turned into a room which was much smaller than the first cell. While the room was also grey in color, the walls have been messily daubed with red paint so that it looked like they were heavily covered in blood.

"Why did you choose Bruce?" Tony murmured.

Loki didn't stop in his tracks nor look at Tony. "Would you have preferred that I chose Agent Romanov?"

"No."

"That settles it then."

They shift deeper into the room; at the far end towards their right was a large window made up of three panes of glass, looking out over the sea. In the middle of the room was a small glass table; there was nothing on it. Behind them, the door which they entered through had slid shut. Loki glanced over the room. On the wall opposite from where they had entered was another closed door, and towards their left was a big screen.

Loki held the distraught man close to himself, and bent forward to look at Tony straight in those mesmerizing brown eyes. "Tony, look at me. Trust me."

"We don't trade lives, Loki."

"No we don't." Loki agreed, "had I chose Romanov, there was no chance she would have survived at all."

When Tony averted his gaze, Loki continued. "You told me once, that Banner once shot himself. What happened next?"

"The Hulk spat the bullet out."

"That's right." Loki whispered in reply. "The Hulk is Bruce, and the Hulk won't let Bruce die."

"I'm sorry."

"We will get him, Tony." Loki assured. "We will get him and have those bastards' heads hanging in our penthouse as trophies."

"Zev won't like that."

"No he won't."

The screen activated and a live footage of Zev was displayed on the screen. His knee was bleeding slowly from where he was shot moments ago. The child was shaking slightly but didn't move otherwise.

"As a motivator to your continued cooperation, you may have a few moments with the boy. Hurry now, the feed won't stay long." The person behind the screens said.

It took Loki a few moments before he realized that they were given a visual update of their child since the last tape four hours ago. If anything, Zev was paler and his skin was covered in bruises and dirt.

"Zev?" Loki choked back his emotions.

When the boy struggled to look up, it dawned upon them that Zev could hear them and Loki tried to call for his son again. When Zev tried to look around, Loki stopped him. From the child's reaction, Loki knew that the visuals were only for them; Zev could only hear their voices.

Although it pained him to say it, Loki knew he had to give the child hope. "Baby, listen to me, give me and your daddy a little more time."

"But it hurts, Móhðy. E-everything hurts." The boy's whispers were barely picked up by the recordings.

"I know sweetheart." Loki comforted. "I know, but daddy is coming alright? The bad guys won't hurt you when daddy is there. Do you know why?"

"B-because daddy is a s-superhero."

"That's right."

The screen cut to black and the man spoke through the speakers once more. "That's enough for now. Let's play a new game shall we?"

There's a loud noise from behind them and they turned to look. Outside the window, three men dropped into view, each suspended from a rope attached to a harness. The ropes tightened and the men are left dangling in mid-air; one behind each pane of glass. Their hands were bound tightly in chains in front of them and white linen were tied around their mouths.

"Oh fuck." Tony cussed.

They were the other half of the team; Steve, Thor and Clint were hung behind each pane respectively and they looked like they had been through some crap themselves. There were open wounds and bruising to each of them. Tony shuddered at the thought of what they had to go through, given he had already lost one member of the team possibly permanently.

Loki walked closer to the windows, staring out of it. The men had their eyes glued on every move from inside the room and Tony knew that they could see them as clearly as Tony could. And it scared him. If they had to do anything like the previous…

"Stop thinking." Loki said. "Don't give them the pleasure of watching our anguish more than they already have."

Tony exhaled, but his nerves wouldn't calm down. He glanced at both Loki and Natasha. It must be some assassin pro training tip, because they both wore a grim expression, careful to let no emotion betray them and Tony inwardly cursed again. How was he so bad at this? His heart was practically leaping out of his chest and he had to fight hard to not gasp for air. And he thought his PTSD days were over. It seemed like this was a start to a new one.

A laugh broke out from the speakers and Loki had to steal a glance towards Tony to make sure he's alright. "Well done Loki. No matter, our pleasure is for us to decide, don't you think?"

Loki's expression was indifferent which earned him another laugh. "Since you were so eager to have a turn, this time, the choice is yours. Choose one."

Loki raised his brow and glared at the security camera in the room. "And then what?"

"Early release." The voice spoke.

"You'll drop them into the sea." Loki concluded.

"Sink, or swim." The person replied.

"They're tied up!" Tony yelled.

"Exactly! There's your context." The person mocked. "Hurry up now, your countdown starts."

"Fuck you and your games! Fuck you and your context!" Tony yelled angrily. Loki gripped his arm and shot him a leer. "We don't have to play their stupid games! What we need to do, is to get Zev and skedaddle out of here before I blow this place to bits!"

"I know." Loki said.

"No you don't!" Tony threw a punch at Loki; he didn't dodge it and the assault hit Loki right in the face. "You don't know how it feels when others lay their lives down for you! Fuck, I'm not even supposed to be alive!"

Tony stared down at his shaky hands before looking at Loki once more. "We don't trade lives!" Tony panted and shook his head violently as he breathing turned to gasps for air.

"Tony if this is about morals-"

"Fuck morals!" Tony hollered. "My morals just got Bruce killed. My fucking morals doesn't matter."

"Yes they do." Loki said. "But we have to be rational here-"

"There is no rationality here Loki." Tony pointed at the camera watching them. "They are screwing with us and our minds!"

"Then why are you letting them win?"

Tony was silenced by Loki's simple remark. Why was he letting them win? He wasn't. No matter what he did, or what decision they made, they would ultimately lose; because there will be no avenging the world without the Avengers. Nobody heals from trauma like this, nobody. But at what cost would he be willing to comply?

"Take me." Tony said. "Take me in his place. It's me you're after."

Instead of replying to Tony, a sound of a clock ticking was played through the speakers. Tony paced around the room in anguish. Loki turned to face the distressed men outside the window; he didn't know if the glass was soundproof, but even it was, compassion was plastered on their faces after watching Tony's and his little episode. _Where is the rationality in this?_ He walked up to the glass panes scrutinized the men, there was no right choice. Tony was undoubtedly right, but so was he. All Loki had was Tony and Zev, he couldn't lose them both. Loki paced back to the center pane afterwards.

It was Thor. Loki placed a palm against the glass pane as he smiled apologetically at his brother. It had to be Thor. They weren't immortal but Asgardians do have immense strength, Loki hoped that if he had played his cards right, maybe…

Thor widened his eyes, aware of what was about to come and what choice his brother had made, what his brother had done. His gaze softened and he nodded at Loki. Loki mouthed a silent 'thank you' before taking a step back and pointed at Thor.

"I choose him."

"Loki, we can't do this." Tony shouted.

"Our priority now is to get us through to Zev, remember?" Loki urged; he looked at the camera once more. "Thor."

"Say it." The voice spoke. "Condemn him in the knowledge of what will happen to the man you name."

Loki looked at Thor grimly and exhaled. "I condemn Thor Odinson."

Instantly, the ropes holding Steve and Clint were released and they plunged downwards out of sight with loud splashes. Loki closed his eyes and willed himself to breathe. If he could hear the splashes as the heavy bodies hit the water, they probably heard the argument he had with Tony, and his prejudiced rationale. _OK, so things hadn't gone as planned. But Thor, he's still alive right?_ Loki watched Thor struggle in his bindings in utter disbelief. The door to the next location started to slide open.

"You dropped the other two. Why?" Tony growled. "Why?!"

"Does it really make a difference?" The person questioned. There was a soft click and Tony turned around just in time to see Thor's harness release, sending the man plunging down into the waters below. "That felt pretty much the same."

Loki halted in his advancement into the open doorway. His mind was in turmoil, he was lost and he didn't know what to do. These were Tony's friends, and drawing the connections, his friends in turn. What would Tony think of him? Clearly he was displeased. Loki's shoulders were slumped with heavy burdens and worry as turned his back and headed to Tony, who was still staring at the windows, teeth bared and breathing heavily.

"Tony." He said softly.

Tony pushed Loki back and stomped away. "You call this rational?"

"Don't let him distract you. Your son needs you." Loki whispered. "Tony, I need you."

"What is this going to cost?" Tony asked while staring at the floor, nostrils flared from frustration.

"Probably everything." Loki replied. "It pains me as much as it does you. Believe me."

Tony inclined his head slowly to meet Loki's gaze. "That's the thing." He replied in a hushed voice. "I do, Loki. I do believe you. That's why I hate myself. Because I can't be like you. I can't make these decisions and tell myself that it's ok."

"It's not ok." Loki said.

"Exactly."

"We need to finish this." Loki stated. "We've already lost too much to back away now."

Tony sighed and peeked towards the door. Natasha shuffled forward and Tony actually flinched from her movement. She had been a quiet observer that Tony had forgotten she was in the same room as they were, especially during his arguments. When they locked gaze, Tony could feel her empathy and hidden underneath, her uneasiness and distress. With the whole team eliminated, it didn't require a genius to conclude who was next in line to be assassinated. Tony felt a pang of guilt. Had he not announce his role as Iron Man, had he not joined the Avengers, none of this would have happened. Neither would meeting Loki and having Zev. Tony would just be the ordinary engineer, playboy and drinking his life away; and he'd probably regret that too.

Loki tried to reach for Tony's hand, but Tony simply turned his back to him and treaded behind Natasha. Loki curled his fingers and stared at his empty hands; he sighed and lowered his gaze, rubbing the hand tiredly over his forehead. He knew they had walked into this one, they were being played and manipulated, just like puppets on strings.

Further along the narrow corridor, another door slid open and the trio walked through the doorway. The room was dimly lit and smaller, with black walls and floors with no windows. Unlike the previous one, there was no red paint on the walls. Similarly, there was a glass table in the middle of the room, only this time, sitting atop was a ragged bunny plush toy.

Tony had almost bumped into Natasha when she halted abruptly and only when Tony looked up from the floor did he realize why.

That bunny belonged to Zev.

Loki made it himself before Zev was due, and Tony often teased Loki about it. Their son adored that toy from the moment he laid his eyes on it and never went anywhere without it. The bunny was the second thing Zev loved the most, Loki always said, with Tony being the first. Tony would heartily laugh off Loki's blatant express of jealousy, earning himself a huff and a frown from his partner. Nevertheless, they were happy.

Loki watched Tony drag his feet over to the table and gingerly picked up the toy. The once bright green plush was now dull and dirty, and it looked horrendous. Loki tensed up and gasped when he saw it; when he saw the truth behind the bunny.

One of the eye was missing, and cotton was falling out from a missing arm and leg. The body of the toy had been carelessly torn apart and sewn back ruggedly.

When Tony turned around and muttered that there was blood on the toy, Loki's breath hitched. Except for the missing limbs, which was probably torn apart from an obvious struggle, that bunny that Zev loved so much was being used as a representation of his being.

Natasha bit her lip and reached out for the doll, tapping around the face and halted when she pressed on something hard. Tony threw a questioning glance towards Nat but went ahead to remove the unknown object buried within the toy. When Tony barely pinched the object to pull it out, the doll shrieked and Tony threw it against the glass with a shout.

"Daddy, why wouldn't you save me?"

It was Zev's voice!

Loki picked up the discarded toy and held it close to his chest. Like a broken recorder, the doll didn't stop its accusations in Zev's voice and as the voice became distorted and full of static, the words had changed to "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." And then, it was some deep menacing, outright freaky laughter.

"Tony…" Loki called out, "This isn't true. Zev loves you."

Before Loki could receive a reply, the lights went out and a video was projected onto the wall. The footage showed Zev running around in the park, sniffing at the different flowers and jumping around when he found something new, pulling Tony forward to show his new findings to his father.

The footage was cut and another took its place. This time, it was showed the penthouse where Zev was sitting atop Loki's lap, building a tower out of blocks and giggling each time Loki lightly blew at his ear. Tony was chuckling as he entered the room and handed Zev a bottle of red liquid while he passed Loki a coffee mug and took a sip from his own. Cranberry juice. The child loved it to bits.

Loki furrowed his brows, utterly taken aback from these footages. Neither Tony nor himself had taken these and he doubted that they were stored in JARVIS's drive either. The camera angle was just wrong. He bit the inside of his lip to stop careless retort from spilling his lips. These bastards had been watching them for a long time.

The footage changed once more and it showed Zev kicking up a fuss and crying as he dragged his green bunny towards the medical bay. The Avengers had just came back from a mission and Tony had the short straw in the battle, coming back with a dislocated elbow and a broken collarbone. The contusions from the suit had aggravated the injuries and Tony had to have Loki and the bots pry the metal off his body to prevent further harm and young Zev didn't like to see his father get hurt.

Zev tugged on Loki's arm and brought it to Tony's, insisting his móðir to take the pain away from Tony. They smiled at their son's gesture and Loki nodded, lifting the crying child in his arms and holding him tight, assuring Zev that Tony would be fine.

" _It hurts like b-" Tony cut off when he received a stern glare from Loki, "A lot. Are you sure you wanna do this?"_

" _All the more I should."_

" _It's going to hurt you too." Tony insisted._

" _Only for a little while."_

Loki smiled bitterly at the footage, which captured the moment he brought his lips to Tony's and at the contact, a soft glow of green emitted. Zev was tucked between Tony and himself and wouldn't stop his sniffling until Tony was well. As Tony eased, Loki barely flinched as he took the pain away.

Tony had to rock Zev lightly in his arms to comfort the child and assure him that Daddy was fine before he would finally calm down. Zev refused to leave Tony out of his sight for following days when Tony had a cast and sling around his arm to fix his elbow, constantly holding onto the sleeve of Tony's pants and following him around.

The projector clicked and an image was casted on the wall. Inquisitivity and intelligence shone in those brown orbs as Zev stared straight into the camera, and on the tip of his nose sat a small black spider. The speakers began to play the melody of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' which tuned out to shrills near the end. Loki flinched and covered his ears from the awful screeching. He crouched lower as the sound became louder, his eyes were squeezed shut and he assumed that it was the same with Natasha and Tony.

Someone must have said something because after a few seconds, all sounds were cut off and Loki could still hear the ringing in his ears. He rubbed his ears to soothe them and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Tony was dazed but otherwise unharmed.

The speakers played the ticking sounds again, which threw Loki off guard. Why was the timer on? What had they been tasked to do? Loki shot his partner a questioning glance and when Tony caught his gaze, the man quickly turned away.

"What did you do?"

"He said he'll do it." Natasha mumbled.

When neither of the men replied, Natasha stepped towards them boldly, and repeated. "He said he'll kill me."

Tony shrugged of Loki's touch to his shoulder and gritted his teeth. "We have lost too much to go back." He glanced over at Natasha then slid his gaze towards Loki. "You said that. We can't afford to put everything to waste."

Loki bit his cheek as he watched Tony walk towards Natasha, his movements were forced and unnaturally stiff; and although Natasha drew a defensive stance, her gaze was soft and filled with understanding. Natasha showed no fear nor anguish, but Loki could tell that she was was putting up a brave front.

"How are we going to kill her?" Tony said. "You provided us with nothing, genius."

"I'm glad you asked." The person said through the speakers. "Why, with your bare hands of course."

Tony kicked the glass table over in fury, and the glass shattered noisily onto the floor. "What is wrong with you people?!"

The person laughed and responded. "Remember, I have provided you some motivation."

There was a click and the white noise had gotten worse. There was a cough and a soft groan before someone said something unintelligible, then Zev's voice was heard loud and clear. "S-stop!"

"Zev?" Loki called. "Are you still here? Speak to me, everything will be fine."

"M-móhðy?"

"Yes sweetheart it's me."

"T-they said you weren't c-coming." Zev choked.

"Of course I am, I promise you that Daddy and I are coming to get you." Loki assured. "But I need to you to be a brave boy for me, can you do that? Be strong and brave, just like Daddy."

"I can try…" Zev mumbled.

"You are doing a great job sweetheart." Loki encouraged. "Will you be able to describe your surroundings to me? Look around you and tell me what you see."

"I-it's really big."

"Good, go on. I'm listening."

"I can't think. It hurts so much!" Zev began to sob and Loki was quick to hush and comfort his child. He sent a pleading glance towards Tony, who had been anxiously pacing around. Tony swallowed his anger and calmed himself down slightly before speaking, he didn't want to aggravate the situation anymore than it had been.

"Hey buddy."

"D-daddy!" Zev bawled. Tony wondered if he had made the right choice to let his son speak to him. But Loki nodded for him to go on, so it had to be fine. Loki was always better at comforting him, and Tony was usually just a mess of words; and in the end, it was Loki who had to comfort and console the both of them.

"Yeah it's me." Tony continued. "You are doing so well, but I need you to tell us what do you see. Are there any windows?"

"No."

"How about doors?"

"I can only see one."

"That's good, you're all good." Tony encouraged. "How many people are there with you now?"

"T-there's the bad man." Zev coughed. "And another one behind the camera. A-and another at the door."

Natasha gripped Tony's arm and whispered for him to ask if Zev remembered anything when they brought him in. Any information they received gave a higher possibility of locating where in the base was Zev being held captive.

"Zev, buddy listen to me." Tony said. "I need you to think really hard alright, tell me if you remembered how the bad men got to you."

"It's getting really dark in here." Zev muttered. "And cold… I can't… G-getting sleepy…"

The end of the line stayed silent for a few seconds more and both Loki and Tony started to panic and yelled for their son to no avail. The line disconnected with a beep and the perpetrator was reconnected instead.

"What did you do to him?" Tony growled, but instead of a direct reply, the person simply chuckled.

"If you would like to speak to your son again, earn yourself some phone time!"

Tony balled his fist and slammed it against Natasha, catching her by surprise. Tony's punches were hard and filled with rage and emotions while Natasha easily dodged the blows with swift elegance. She taunted him, egging Tony to hit harder and she had even landed a few blows to him, bringing him down to his hands and knees more than once.

As the two struggled in each other's grasp, Loki picked up a long shard of broken glass and sneaked behind the tumbling mess of a fight before him. With Natasha overpowering Tony with wit, she provided an unobstructed access to her back, to which Loki struck.

He didn't think twice as drove the shard deep into her back, the tip of the shard exited her body and began dripping warm blood onto Tony's face as he laid pinned beneath Natasha. Natasha smiled weakly as Tony pushed her off.

"Not many people can sneak up on me."

Loki felt a pinch in his heart. Those were the first words he had said to her when they met. "But you realized that I would have done it."

"Only a little too late."

Loki laid Natasha against the wall as she groaned in pain. The blood wasn't stopping and Natasha was turning paler by the second. Loki held her hand tightly, muttering apologies and Nat smiled softly before breathing her last. "I've erased the red from my ledger."

Loki wiped the tear from her cheek and closed her eyes. He placed Zev's bunny in her hands and whispered, "You have… It had caused you so much."

A soft click told them that the door was unlocked and Tony subconsciously took Loki's bloodied hand in his. Loki winced and Tony let go immediately.

"You're hurt." Tony stated.

Loki glanced down at his hands, unaware until now that the glass had cut his palms. He must have gripped it too tightly. "It's nothing that wouldn't heal. I'll be fine."

The path to the next room was different. It was wider and the ceiling was higher and the walls were black. There was little light coming through the windows at the top of the walls causing big shadows to be casted as they walked through it.

"If they were to have you kill me, will you do it?"

"Tony, I… won't be able to."

"But you have to if you want to get to Zev."

"What if they were to have you to it to me? What's your answer then?"

Tony was deep in thoughts. He looked so crestfallen and it pained Loki to see him like this. "I can't do it."

"But I'll help you to."

"No!" Tony shook his head and grabbed Loki by his shoulders. "You can't. Promise me you won't do it. What would Zev do without you?"

"He'll have you."

"I can't do this alone!"

"You'll do just fine."

Tony pushed Loki against the wall, his voice was cracked as he forcefully blinked away the angry tears. "And you'll leave your son without a mother! I can't live with that. I can't do this without you. Zev needs you. Loki, I need you."

Even though his brows were furrowed in pain and worry, Loki smiled softly at Tony.

The new room was similarly sized as the previous, and like there second room, the back of the rooms had windows instead of a grey wall like the other three walls in it. The only noticeable feature was that the room was empty.

Loki traced the surrounding of the room before stopping at the locked door. It had a glass panel across it and when Loki peered through, he was taken aback just slightly that it was uncovered. Instead of a tunnel as Loki had expected, it was a field right outside, with rocks and stone slabs scattered around; just as he had seen from the glass panes in the room. Loki thought he was mistaken when he saw the grass instead of the sea. At the end of the field was a single level building with no windows from where he could see.

The sky was cloudy and light rumbling of thunder could be heard from within, and Loki raised his head towards the sky and closed his eyes. His shaky breath fogged up the already dirty glass and Loki turned to face Tony, who had been staring out the windows.

"What's wrong?" Loki asked.

"What's wrong?" Tony sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I don't know you anymore."

Loki didn't retort as Tony slid his back down the glass and sat on the floor with his knees brought up to his chest. "Here we are playing some mad man's game, everyone on the team is dead, and we still have no clue where Zev is. This is torture."

"No. This isn't torture."

Tony watched as Loki walked towards him and knelt down in front of him. "This is vivisection. We are experiencing science in the perspective of lab rats. Both to Zev and us, liberal and liberal, it is the worst." The words were meant to hurt and resent, however it didn't sound as resolved as it should be when Loki spoke. Loki had to convince himself that this was the only rational way if they wanted to rescue their son and escape alive. If they could stay alive till then.

For all he knew, HYDRA was planning to rid of them all in the name of Zev and false promises of his safety before finishing their child all together. They were playing right into the enemy's plans but Loki could do nothing to stop it. He was the one who convinced Tony to yield to HYDRA's absurd requests; and he had to assure himself that it was the only way. It had to work.

Like routine, the speakers crackled and came alive leaving short instructions on what they had to accomplish to move on to the next round of the captor's little innovative game of tearing them apart. Loki growled as the enemy stated their fatuous request.

Despite his obvious rage, Loki was gentle when he leaned forward and planted his lips on Tony's, his hands lightly weaving through Tony's hair. It took him a while, but Tony returned the motion. The mood was all wrong and the emotions were too messed up for something much more intimate than this.

Loki traced his hand down his back and stopped right above Tony's hips as he pulled the man closer to him as much as he could from their awkward positions.

Loki felt a dull pressure increase on his shoulder to a sharp ache and he opened his eyes he didn't realized had fallen shut. Tony's face was scrunched up as he continued to squeeze Loki's shoulder tightly. Loki broke free from the kiss and Tony gasped for air.

"I don't think- This doesn't feel right." Tony leaned back to rest his head against the cool glass.

"Tony-"

"It's not about you. I just can't believe this is what they want."

"At least we will be walking out of this room alive."

"Only if we can finish this task. This is a load of bullshit."

Loki leaned forward and pecked Tony's forehead. "We've done this countless of times, it shouldn't be too hard."

Loki was trying to set the mood, Tony realized, which he was secretly thankful for. But as his body had an opposing opinion from his mind, and for the first time, Tony blamed his body for its non-reactive state.

"How far do we have to go?" Tony asked.

"Possibly all the way. I need you to be cooperative here Tony."

Tony muttered a silent "I'll try." and eased into Loki's embrace.

Loki could feel Tony forcing himself to relax as Loki slid his hand underneath Tony's shirt. He made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor and lifted Tony into his lap. Everything felt wrong. What he and Tony did in their own time was private, intimate and definitely not for viewing and mocking.

As with Tony's, Loki could feel his body being unresponsive and uncooperative as he did an experimental rut against the man on his lap. He nipped at Tony's ear lobe and suckled on it gently before tracing his kisses and licks down Tony's neck. Tony inclined his head to allow Loki have better access.

As one hand traced the muscles on his back, Loki's free hand spent little time to tackle Tony's front. He lightly massaged Tony's inner thighs before palming at his crotch and Loki felt Tony squirm uncomfortably above him.

Loki stripped Tony of his cardigan, leaving him in only his t-shirt and jeans. Loki winced as he Tony pulled on his hair albeit too hardly. Neither of them were aroused by either of their advances and Loki was beginning to panic.

Of course they would have performance issues, any rational human being would given their circumstances. Be intimate? What sort of request was that?! Clearly the enemy wasn't keen on just kissing, that would have been too easy; the door would have been opened a while ago.

"Loki."

Loki hummed in acknowledgement as he kissed Tony's jaw.

"I'm not feeling it."

Loki unbuckled Tony's belt and reached in, leaving his pants hanging lowly around his hips. His actions were jerky and harsh. Loki removed his hand from Tony's back and pushed against the glass, pressing a kiss against his lips.

"Stop." Tony writhed beneath Loki as he tried to push him away. "Loki stop! You're hurting me."

Loki backed away slowly, refusing to look Tony in his eye as he stared at his trembling hands. Droplets of warm water splashed against his palm and it wasn't until Tony brushed a finger against his cheeks that he realized that he was crying.

"I'm sorry." Tony whispered and Loki shook his head violently in reply.

"I'm not sure how long more can I keep up with the strong front." Loki admitted. "The more time we are playing these games, the longer Zev is being touched by those scoundrels."

Tony took hold of Loki's hand and placed it on his cheek. "Let's start over."

Loki closed his eyes and exhaled. His gaze full of resolve when the reopened and he pecked Tony's lips. "I do love you."

Lightning flashed behind them and the first drops of rain splattered on the ground and against the glass.

"Well isn't that just romantic." Loki teased.

"What?"

"Tony, I'm going to need you to duck at my signal." Loki murmured as he stared past the man and onto the fields.

"What's going on?"

"When you're ready."

"Lo-"

"Now!"

Loki pushed Tony onto the ground with him hovering over the man as the glass shattered with a deafening crash. Loki grunted as the glass shards cut into his skin, but he stayed low to the ground, shielding Tony from the raining sharps.

"I was afraid we'd be too late." Loki beamed when he heard the voice, a voice he had dared hoped to hear from again.

"You sure took your time." Loki replied and Tony shot him a bewildered look. "Brother."

Thor scoffed and reached out to assist both Loki and Tony to their feet. Loki looked over Thor's shoulders to see Steve destroying the last of the security cameras in the room with his shield.

"Captain." Loki acknowledged.

The duo looked horrendous. Steve had his left arm hanging limply, clearly broken at the bones and Thor's face was covered stained red and his blonde hair was matted in dirt and blood. Upon closer inspection, Loki noticed that Thor had his right eye slashed out.

Tony's breathed hitched when he saw his friends. "I thought-"

"That we were dead?" Steve injected with a tease, "Not too easy to kill us, Stark."

"And Zev?" Tony asked as he fastened his pants, to which Steve had politely glanced away.

"We haven't found him, we past you first and we thought you guys needed the extra hand." Steve replied. "The others didn't make it. We brought Clint and Bruce back to the jet." Steve handed out a pair of daggers to Loki, which he promptly took.

"They are going to be so pissed." Tony mumbled.

"I think they already are." Loki said as he pointed to the soldiers charging at them from the newly opened exit.

"We've got your back." Steve assured. "Leave the men to us. You need to find your son."

Thor charged at the army, knocking down many of them down with Mjolnir and gestured for Loki and Tony to move.

"We will come back for you, Brother. Captain."

Loki intertwined his fingers with Tony's and made a dash through the exit. The rain plastered their hair to their faces and Loki had to squint as the rainwater stung his eyes. He was merciless as he fought his way through the incoming soldiers, leaving a bloody trail behind him as he sourced put his child. Zev said that he couldn't see any windows and Loki deduced that he might have been kept underground.

He noticed a steep drop at the end of the fields and cursed. They weren't on ground floor as he thought, they were still on the higher levels, and this was some sort of bridge that linked the building behind them to the next. As he got closer to the funny stones, it dawned upon him that those were gravestones. They were running across a cemetery.

Loki felt his stomach churn and the thoughts of the vile actions these men had done. They did not deserve a gravestone, they most definitely did not deserve mourning or remembering.

A bolt of lighting hit the ground, scattering most of the soldiers and Loki had to grasp onto one of the headstones to prevent himself from falling over. Tony gripped his hand harder and Loki hoisted him up as much as he could to stop Tony from tripping.

The door was unlocked and Loki slammed it close behind him, pressing his body against it as he searched for something to hold it close with. When Tony simply pulled the bolt shut, Loki let out a shaky laugh. The men wasted little time to catch their breaths before they moved on.

Loki handed Tony one of his daggers and told him to keep himself armed lest they were attacked by surprise, to which Tony took without resistance. Without the pesky soldiers on their heels, Loki paid extra attention to his surroundings. The ceiling was low such that should Tony raise his arms, he would be able to touch it. The building was poorly maintained; the walls were covered in dust and cobwebs,not to mention the was a mild rancid smell that wafted in the air. It wasn't too disturbing but it was uncomfortable and Loki twitched his nose in disapproval. Compared to the shiny exterior, the interior was shocking.

Loki felt Tony squeeze his hand and he nodded. Tony had noticed it as he had. The floor was clean, way too clean that they could kiss the floor. There was an elevator at the end of the room, seeing that there was nothing else they could find, they headed to the elevator and pushed on the only button: Down.

It didn't surprise Loki as much when he saw that there was only one level beneath them. He pushed the only button and they began the rocky descend into the undergrounds. The ride down took longer than a minute and Loki began to wonder how deep the building penetrated through the ground.

When the elevator doors finally creaked open, Loki could see their breaths turn to mist in front of them and he felt Tony shiver in his grasp. The aisle was dimly light with flickering yellow light and the air was foggy. The smell was worse in the basement, Tony gagged after taking a few steps and Loki rubbed on his back to soothe him.

Loki placed his hand on the metal door at the end of the walkway and slid it down slowly to the handle, leaving a trail of his smudged handprint against the door. Tony nodded and Loki pushed the door open. A new room engulfed them and this time, Tony actually threw up.

Shelves of glass jars and containers filled the room, and before Loki could guess what they contained, the smell rotting flesh and the stinging vapors of chemicals hit his nostrils. Pulling Tony gently behind him, they squeezed past the collection of organs and body parts of both animals and human. They were only halfway through when Tony heaved once more.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked as he rubbed Tony's back tenderly.

Tony groaned in reply. He held onto Loki's arm for support as he straightened his poise.

"We're almost there." Loki encouraged. "If you held your breath, you may feel better."

Tony nodded and inhaled deeply, trying his best to not gag at the action. Loki gripped Tony's hand firmly and guided them both to the door with long strides. He whispered encouragements when Tony would slow down and Loki had to tug him along. It didn't help that Tony's lung capacity had been compromised.

Tony practically collapsed when they closed the metal door behind them and gasped for fresher air. At least this room didn't smell too bad, not the best, but not too terrible.

At a glance, the room was large and Loki reckoned that it could easily be as big as a football field.

The room was dark except for a single beam of light shining down on a table propped up vertically in the middle of the room. A video camera was propped up in front of it. Loki was skeptical, this was too easy.

Loki maneuvered in the shadows around the room to better identify the measly red piece of stuff strapped to the table. It smelled strongly of blood. It was lopsided and not proportionate, with one side chunkier than the other.

Loki's breath hitched when the mangy piece of red, blue and black moved, and more blood trickled down the table. Loki inched closer. A whimper escaped from his lips when he finally connected the pieces together. The remnants of brown tufts on the top, a singular eye barely opened and the heavy breathing. It was a child.

 _It can't be Zev._ Loki thought, this child was mutilated beyond recognition and missing limbs. The last he saw Zev in the live footage didn't show this much of damage done to him. Loki shook his head in denial. They wouldn't do this to a child. They wouldn't to this to _his_ child.

Zev said that there were three others in the room with him, and this room had none that he could see. Loki choked when the child locked gaze with his. The brown eyes blinked and the boy opened his mouth and whimpered.

Before Loki left the shadows to the boy, a suited man came into view and placed a blood stained hand axe on the metal trolley which held various instruments. He didn't have a mask, and Loki caught him stealing glances in his direction.

Tony grunted behind him and Loki threw his dagger up in an offensive pose. Tony had brought down someone and was kneeling above a struggling body. He watched as Tony stabbed the dagger deep into the man's eye socket and twice more in his chest before the man went limp, lying in a pool of his own blood.

Fury was plastered on his face when the man behind him laughed. Loki growled and pounced on the man where the duo were tangled in struggles and punches. Tony was caught in another fight, hitting the camera off its stand as he ducked an incoming punch.

"He was a delightful specimen!" The man pinned beneath Loki shouted just as Loki was about to slam his dagger into his chest. "He made such beautiful sounds!"

Loki screamed as he lunged forward and stabbed the man in his face instead. The rage bottled up inside him exploded as he continued his assault, slashing at the man and punching with his free fist.

The man was unrecognisable when Loki stood up on his shaky feet, and staggered towards Tony, who was breathing harshly as he was lying on the floor. The second perpetrator was slumped over Tony and unmoving. Loki carelessly pushed the heavy body off his partner and gently lifted Tony to a sitting position, but when Tony flinched, Loki stopped pulling at him.

Blood seeped through Tony's shirt was was beginning to stain Loki's. Loki pressed his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding with little success.

"Go to him." Tony said. "You have to save him."

Loki pulled his lips thin. Since entering this room, Loki had been in denial of the body on the table. Even when they made eye contact and his heart welled up with so much emotions that he couldn't name. Loki kept telling himself that it was some unfortunate boy from some unlucky family. But no matter what he convinced himself with, he knew the truth.

He gazed down at the child who was too tired to respond. Tears welled up in his eyes but Loki forbade himself to cry. He worked quickly at the bindings, unlatching the clips and untwining the chains from the child's remaining limbs and gently laid him in his lap, back to chest.

Loki let out a shaky breath as he cupped the child's cheek between his hands and closed his eyes in concentration as he took the pain away. As soon as his hands glowed bright green, Loki winced and hollered. He gritted his teeth and grunted as he willed his hands to stay where they were and screamed again.

Tears fell from his eyes from the haze of pain and from the thought of his child suffering through the ordeal. Loki tried to hold out for as long as he could, but he barely made passed a whole minute before he dropped his hands to his side and panted heavily, sweat mixed with blood and tears.

The child beneath him looked up at him and smiled. "Móhðy… You came."

"Of course I did." Loki replied. "Hush now, you're alright. It won't hurt anymore."

Loki focused on the frail body and began to work on lowering Zev's pain once more. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand wrap around his shoulder and tried to smile at Tony, but he knew all the managed to bring out was a twitch of his lips.

Loki almost collapsed from the second try after half a minute and he weakly slammed his fists on the floor. "He's not going to make it." Loki whispered.

"Even if he were to leave this place alive, I doubt he'll make it Tony."

"Don't say that. He's strong. He's a warrior. He can do this. "

Loki shook his head wearily. "Look at him. Even if he does make it out of here, even if you could make him new body parts, even if we could help him to his feet again, he will never recover. Not from this."

 _Because nobody truly recovers from trauma like this._

"You know it as I do." Loki pleaded. "I don't want him to live in a world of endless pain."

Tony knelt in front of his child and lightly stroked at his hair. The kid smiled and reached out to hold his father's hand, to which Tony took.

"I have been a brave boy." Zev said. "I have, Daddy."

Tony choked back a cry as he listened to his son's weary voice and nodded. "Yes you have. I'm so proud of you little man."

Tony leaned forward to plant a kiss on Zev's forehead. "You won't feel hurt anymore, I promise. Soon, you'll be able to run and play like you've always done."

"I know." Zev said. "B-because Daddy has the b-best tech."

Tony had to look away to still his quivering lips. This was not giving false hope, this was not a lie. They had intended to take his pain away, permanently. But Zev didn't know that. Zev only saw life, and that saddened Tony that his son would never see the light for another day.

"I love you buddy."

"I love you too Daddy."

Tony gingerly hugged his son and nodded subtlety to Loki, whose eyes were red with tears. Loki kissed the top of Zev's head and whispered sweet nothings to him.

"Móhðy? Are you crying?"

Loki exhaled quietly and steadied his voice. "No, I'm fine. Close your eyes for me baby."

"But-"

"Hush, everything will be fine." Loki cooed. "Now close your eyes."

Zev complied. Loki caressed his cheeks before letting his hands glow green; in a swift movement, Loki snapped the young boy's neck.

It had been three months since the incident and Tony hadn't don his suit of armour. Loki handed him a cup of coffee as he worked in his lab. He was close to completing it and he didn't want to stop, not now. Loki settled down beside him silently and handed him a screwdriver. Tony wiped the sweat from his face as he took a sip of the beverage and took the tool from Loki.

The past three months had been taxing for them. Aside from settling the burial for Clint, Natasha and Bruce, Tony kept himself occupied with his technology. It took him only three weeks to build Steve a prosthesis for the arm he lost and another seven weeks to make Thor a replacement for his eye. It was difficult, but with Loki's help, they had done it.

Tony stretched his sore muscles and smiled at Loki. He had been supportive as he was respectful towards both their mournings, which helped Tony get back on his feet a whole lot faster and he was grateful for it.

And again, Tony dove back into his project. Loki didn't know what he was doing yet, but he guessed that Loki might have an idea. It took him another hour of bending over, smoldering and tinkering that he had finally completed his project.

Tony enthusiastically tapped on Loki's shoulder to wake the man. Tony couldn't blame him for snoozing off, Loki hadn't had much rest since then, not to mention it was currently three in the morning. But Tony needed Loki to be awake for this.

"It's done!"

"What is?"

"This." Tony held his hand out, and on it was a tiny blue light. "It's a miniature arc reactor of my already miniaturized reactor."

Loki frowned. Clearly he was missing something out, because Tony had already perfected his design. He had it in his chest and powering up the tower even.

"It's for Zev."

 _Oh._ _Right._ Loki held the equipment gently between his fingertips. It was as big as a grape and so very bright. "But why?"

"He thought that we could do anything," Tony admitted. "That my tech could do anything."

"Yes he does believe, doesn't he?"

"But even with my tech and your magic, we couldn't save him."

"We did what we could."

"Exactly." Tony said. "But I still thought that… He deserves something. And this is a part of me."

Tony took the transparent glass casing sitting in the middle of his work table, engraved on the metal plate at the bottom were the words 'In Loving Memory of Zev Grey Stark'. He lifted it up, taking the newly made green bunny plush toy that sat within. "Just as you made something for him. Of him…"

Loki pulled Tony into an embrace, and neither moved for a while. Three months. It had been three months since Zev's death, since the loss of half the Avengers, since the flowers stopped blooming and the cold winds had replaced the warmth of New York City. Three months and both Loki and Tony had made their own memorials for their son.

Loki helped Tony loop the mini reactor into a small chain to hang it around the bunny's neck. "He'd like this." Loki said as Tony set their treasures back to the center of the workspace, where they could see it all the time; where Zev could watch them work.

"There are new members on the team." Tony stated.

"Yes there are." Loki replied. "I haven't met them."

"Well, shall we pay them a short visit then?"

"Only when you are ready."

"I will never be ready." Tony admitted. "Neither of us will ever be ready but screw that. The world still needs avenging."

"Yes." Loki whispered.

 _Zev would have wanted that. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened._

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **If you didn't catch it, instead of regular cotton fillings, Loki used Zev's ashes to fill the new plush that he made. They wanted Zev to be involved with them, that's why they placed him in the workshop where Tony spends most of his time in and where he can show Zev the new creations he had made.**

 **Also, there is actually a short back story on how Zev got his name, which I removed during the final edits in this one as it doesn't seem to fit. Let me know if any of you would like to read it, and I might post it as an additional chapter (as a prequel or some sort).**


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